Research Facility Annual Summary & Archive Reports

Each USDA-registered research facility and Federal research facility is required by the Animal Welfare Act (AWA) to submit an Annual Report (APHIS Form 7023) that documents its use of animals for research, testing, teaching, experimentation, and/or surgery. USDA-APHIS Animal Care receives copy of each research facility’s annual report on or before December 1. Animal Care reviews the data to ensure the calculated totals are consistent with the number of reported animals in each pain/distress category. Reports with inconsistent data are returned to the research facility for correction. The completeness and accuracy of the non-Federal research facility annual reports might be validated during USDA animal welfare compliance inspections. However, research facilities sometimes include additional data on their annual reports that is not required under the Animal Welfare Act, such as data about rats of the genus rattus, mice of the genus mus, and birds bred for use in research, animals used in excluded field studies, animals used in clinical trials in the context of a veterinary client relationship, and reptiles, fish, or other animals that are not covered by the AWA. The data in the summary reports represent the number of animals USDA-registered research facilities and Federal research facilities reported as being used or held for research, testing, teaching, experimentation, and/or surgery. The summary reports are based on the Annual Report column designations:

Column B (animals held by a facility but not used in any research that year)

Column C (animals used in research; no pain involved; no pain drugs administered)